A&Q about Lotus
Q:
I drove my Elise in the rain for the first time today When I got home I washed the car and noticed that there was water vapor inside the headlight only on the driver side.
I dried the car and put it in the garage, an hour later the headlight was clear again.
I don't know if the water got in there from the rain or washing the car, but since I never saw it before when washing it, I suspect the rain was the source.
But then it went away. Is there a drain hole in the there? I didn't see one. I thought the headlights were a closed system. Are they? If thats the case, should I call the dealer about a new assembly?
I did a search, came up with nothing for "water headlight", so apparently this isn't a common issue.
A:
Originally Posted by Joecooool
I drove my Elise in the rain for the first time today When I got home I washed the car and noticed that there was water vapor inside the headlight only on the driver side.
I dried the car and put it in the garage, an hour later the headlight was clear again.
I don't know if the water got in there from the rain or washing the car, but since I never saw it before when washing it, I suspect the rain was the source.
But then it went away. Is there a drain hole in the there? I didn't see one. I thought the headlights were a closed system. Are they? If thats the case, should I call the dealer about a new assembly?
I did a search, came up with nothing for "water headlight", so apparently this isn't a common issue.
The headlights are not sealed units. That's one of the reasons that Lotus needed a waiver from the DOT standards which require a sealed set up. I believe there's a drain, and if nothing else, the water will evaporate quickly once the lights are on.
You can see that the covers just slide on over the lamps in this photo:
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Thanks.
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My car was in the rain the first time a couple of days ago, and I noticed the same thing - there was "fog" at the lower front of the headlight covers.
Yes, there is a drain in the covers near the bottom front, and another one in the clam where the lights are located.
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I believe the manual actually says that a little water can be expected in the lenses and that it will drain out.
soulman
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What about the front turn signals?
My driver's side turn light has been full of vapor its whole life. How to drain? Should I just point a hot lamp at it?
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I've got water marks on the inside of my lights. I guess I need to take them apart one of these days.
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Originally Posted by doma
What about the front turn signals?
My driver's side turn light has been full of vapor its whole life. How to drain? Should I just point a hot lamp at it?
I don't think the turn signals should have water in them. I saw one of the LCU cars that had the left turn signal housing half full of water! It was just sloshing around in there. Ironically, it was being driven by Dave Simkin at the time and he didn't look like he thought it should be there!
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Originally Posted by doma
What about the front turn signals?
My driver's side turn light has been full of vapor its whole life. How to drain? Should I just point a hot lamp at it?
Rothrock just replaced mine for free when this happened to mine.
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I had water in my driver-side head light and went to dealership and they replaced the light for free.
its covered in factory warranty
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water.....headlights...what's the problem ?
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nice one Cory
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In this case the exrtra wieght is welcome
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I use a hair blowdryer...just gently heat the outside of the lens. The vapor will disappear in a couple of minutes.
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Not to bring this back from the dead, but....
I had the Elise in a car show (won "Best Exotic") earlier that got rained out and upon getting home I noticed both my headlights had strong fog/vapor in the same spot. Is this the same that has happened with you all? I've driven in the rain several (10+ times) and never noticed this before.
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Well, since you bumped this thread Shaggy ...
I'd like to add that I never did get the water out of my turn signal. And now, almost exactly one year after posting the above, my turn signal burned out. The same one that was in the vapor filled turn signal.
I think I'll take that thing apart this weekend and clean it out.
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One of my signals actually had condensation in it for a long time but, and I figured this would happen, disappeared about a week before I took the car in for its second service.
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My passenger turn signal has water in the bottom of it. I asked Criswell to take care of it as part of the punch list in bodywork repairs that were done recently. (It did not have water in it before). I thought they must have damaged the unit taking it out of the car. They said they have seen water get into them before... so I guess it will be a warrantee item based on above posts.
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Originally Posted by Shaggy
Not to bring this back from the dead, but....
I had the Elise in a car show (won "Best Exotic") earlier that got rained out and upon getting home I noticed both my headlights had strong fog/vapor in the same spot. Is this the same that has happened with you all? I've driven in the rain several (10+ times) and never noticed this before.
Yep, I got the same thing happen to the driver side len once after a good washing. But it was gone the next day.
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I'm getting to think that H2O is the biggest overall problem with the E&Es. I've just learned to look the other way. Anyway, in CO it is pretty dry (low humidity). I wonder how the car will fair in the winter-ice build-up?